Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A while back, my running pal Sharon and I created a Twitter #hashtag when we were both injured, and unable to train. We called ourselves #teamsuck. Fortunately, Sharon was back at it in no time, and managed an incredible 3:50:27 debut marathon, while I languished with my medical issues for about 6 months, basically wiping out the rest of 2010 from a running and racing perspective. Thankfully, I'm back to running - and slowly building up what I had lost last year. The process is painful, but it will pay off in the end. But that's not why I'm writing today. I wanted to test out a few potential slogans for #TeamSuck, which happens to be my team name for Tough Mudder PA this spring.

I think that the theme behind #TeamSuck is to embrace your limitations, deal with your setbacks, make the most of what you have, and just have fun with your training and racing. That said, here are a few slogans for your consideration - and there's a voting link below for the best one:

Monday, January 3, 2011

Happy 2011 all! To put this run into context, let me start by giving you some recent mileage numbers:

Total Mileage last week: 0

Total Mileage for December: 26.87 (I know, right?)

Total Mileage for 2011: 778 (Not as bad as I thought, but not the 1000 I was shooting for)

Needless to say, there's a whole lot of rust to shake off of these legs.

Taking advantage of the 50 degree weather, I hit Central Park with a couple of goals:

Get my fat ass out for a run [check]

Run 10 miles [check]

Run a sub-10:00 min/mi pace [check]

Have fun [not so much, read on]

Lay the groundwork for a solid 2011 [we'll see]

The first 3 miles, it seemed that my quads, knees, shins, ankles and feet all developed mouths, and were shouting in unison "What in the @#$@# are you thinking??" Fortunately, I shook the rust off and settled into my groove.

I realize that I have a long way to go to get back to my previous level of fitness, and as a result, I am having a hard time keeping my pace to something that I can run consistently. I ambled over the rolling hills of the park, and completed 2 5 mile loops in under 1:40 as was my original goal.

2011 is going to involve a lot of rebuilding. Motivation-wise, I almost feel like I am back to where I was when I started running. I knew that running was good for me, but every single run involved a battle to put on my running shoes and get out the door. The name of the game for January and February is re-establishing the routine, and putting in the hard work - and the fitness will eventually return.

Best of luck to everyone with their plans for 2011, running and otherwise!